In today's connected world, users are reliant upon data provided by various data source devices, such as sensor devices, autonomous devices (e.g., robots), meters within smart homes, and other input devices. Often such data source devices are connected to recipient devices (e.g., terminal computers, mobile devices, etc.) via local point-to-point communications, such as wireless signaling via Bluetooth®. However, the potential for hacking is great for such local links, especially in environments where users employ overly simplified passwords and/or no authentication to access data source devices. For example, defibrillators, measurement machines, and other sensitive data gathering devices within hospitals may not utilize strong security protocols when transmitting data back to a main hospital computer.
There is a possibility that recipient devices may receive false data (e.g., bad data from a middleman) that may wreak havoc with users and/or the real-time systems used by recipient devices (e.g., medical diagnostics applications, etc.). For example, in the case of remote monitoring of a patient, a doctor may assume a certain medical condition is present (e.g., low blood sugar, certain heart rate, etc.) based on bad source data from hacked or spoofed medical equipment, and thus may prescribe unsafe measures to treat the incorrect medical condition (e.g., apply an inappropriate intensity of shock, provide too high a dose of insulin, etc.). As another example, in the case of a smart home, a resident may think that an open garage door is closed based on a spoofed reported data from a motion detector or open/close sensor. As another example, wrong data from a temperature sensor associated with a nuclear reactor may cause inactivity leading to accidents.